4.8.16

‘I shared Diezani’s N23b poll cash among Northeast states’

Former
Finance Minister Mrs Nenadi Usman has shed light on how she shared N23
billion among Northeast states at the instance of former Petroleum
Resources Minister Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke for the prosecution of
last year’s presidential election.

She told Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) detectives that Alison-Madueke gave her the list of beneficiary states.

The cash is believed to have been set
aside by the Jonathan administration to bribe Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) officials during the election. But Jonathan
lost the election to President Muhammadu Buhari.

Alison-Madueke was said to have sourced the money from some oil companies.

Mrs Usman, who was Director of Finance
of the Presidential Campaign Organisation, spoke when she went for
another interrogation by the EFCC, The Nation learnt yesterday.

She said she shared N1.850 billion to
party stalwarts in Bauchi, Gombe, Adamawa and Taraba states through
Senator Babayo Garba (Bauchi), Senator Saidu Umar Kumo(Gombe), former
Governor James Ngilari (Adamawa), former acting Governor Sani Abubakar
Danladi and Senator Joel Ikenya (Taraba).

A top source, who spoke in confidence,
said: “Following fresh facts, ex-Minister Usman was invited to Gombe
Zonal office of the EFCC on Monday for interrogation on the billions of
naira that were shared to all the states in the Northeast through her
for the re-election of the former President Goodluck Jonathan.

“We decided to grill her at the zonal
office as part of the final lap of our investigation on the disbursement
of the slush funds in the Northeast and arraignment of suspects with prima facie cases.

“Mrs. Usman told the EFCC during
interrogation that she met the former Petroleum Minister Mrs. Alison
Madueke who gave her a paper containing a specific amount of money to be
given to each state of the federation and directed her as the
director of finance in the build up to 2015 presidential election to
contact and send all the representatives of every state to go to
the Fidelity Bank and collect the campaign slush funds so as to
deliver the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) across the country.

“The former finance director Usman told
the zonal office of the commission that Bauchi State got N500 million
through Senator Garba; Gombe State, N450 million through Senator Kumo;
Adamawa State N450 million through former Governor Ngilari; Taraba
State, N450 million through the former acting Governor Danladi and
Senator Ikenya.

“Nenadi Usman admitted to the EFCC that
she did not know the source of the fund as she claimed that Madueke
collected the paper that contained the details of the amount.

“ But she said she had reported to the
head office of the EFCC in Abuja and Kano, Lagos and Gombe zonal offices
of the commission to clarify how the multi-billion naira campaign bribe
money was shared to the big wigs of the PDP across the country.

“The suspect has been granted
administrative bail by the Gombe zonal office of the commission pending
the full investigation of the matter.”

Last June 28, the EFCC arraigned Usman and three others for allegedly laundering N4.9 billion.

The others are former Minister of Aviation Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, Danjuma Yusuf and a company, Joint Trust Dimension Nig. Ltd.

Usman had earlier been interrogated in
connection with the withdrawal of about N3.145 billion from the Central
Bank of Nigeria (CBN) which was paid into the accounts of six PDP
chieftains and Goodluck Support Group (GSG). At the prompting of the
former president, N3.145billion was withdrawn from the CBN under the
guise of security needs for disbursement to party chieftains.

The cash was transferred into the
account of Joint Trust Dimension Nigeria Limited, a company traced to
Usman, where it was later shared to individuals and organisations for
purposes that were not stated.